Health workers linked to CIA's bin Laden scheme reinstated

Workers were suspended by government for not informing authorities about Dr Shakil Afridi's fake vaccination...

17 health workers were reinstated by a Pakistani court on Thursday after having been fired last year for alleged involvement in the US Central Intelligence Agency’s (CIA) plot to confirm the presence of Osama bin Laden in Abbotabad, Associated Press reported.

Lawyer Javed Awan said the court order reinstated 16 female health workers and one male worker who were suspended by a government health department for not informing authorities about Dr Shakil Afridi’s fake vaccination campaign.

Dr Afridi had been working with the CIA for years before the Bin Laden raid, providing intelligence on militant groups in Pakistan’s tribal region. He was sentenced to 33 years in prison last year in May for his links to a banned militant group.

Awan further said the health workers were following orders from senior health officials and were innocent of any wrongdoing.

“The court has done justice to them,” he said.